276 research outputs found
Boron in Very Metal-Poor Stars
We have observed the B I 2497 A line to derive the boron abundances of two
very metal-poor stars selected to help in tracing the origin and evolution of
this element in the early Galaxy: BD +23 3130 and HD 84937. The observations
were conducted using the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph on board the
Hubble Space Telescope. A very detailed abundance analysis via spectral
synthesis has been carried out for these two stars, as well as for two other
metal-poor objects with published spectra, using both Kurucz and OSMARCS model
photospheres, and taking into account consistently the NLTE effects on the line
formation. We have also re-assessed all published boron abundances of old disk
and halo unevolved stars. Our analysis shows that the combination of high
effective temperature (Teff > 6000 K, for which boron is mainly ionized) and
low metallicity ([Fe/H]<-1) makes it difficult to obtain accurate estimates of
boron abundances from the B I 2497 A line. This is the case of HD 84937 and
three other published objects (including two stars with [Fe/H] ~ -3), for which
only upper limits can be established. BD +23 3130, with [Fe/H] ~ -2.9 and
logN(B)_NLTE=0.05+/-0.30, appears then as the most metal-poor star for which a
firm measurement of the boron abundance presently exists. The evolution of the
boron abundance with metallicity that emerges from the seven remaining stars
with Teff < 6000 K and [Fe/H]<-1, for which beryllium abundances were derived
using the same stellar parameters, shows a linear increase with a slope ~ 1.
Furthermore, the B/Be ratio found is constant at a value ~ 20 for stars in the
range -3<[Fe/H]<-1. These results point to spallation reactions of ambient
protons and alpha particles with energetic particles enriched in CNO as the
origin of boron and beryllium in halo stars.Comment: 38 pages, 11 Encapsulated Postscript figures (included), uses
aaspp4.sty. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. The
preprint is also available at: http://www.iac.es/publicaciones/preprints.htm
Higher-Dimensional Twistor Transforms using Pure Spinors
Hughston has shown that projective pure spinors can be used to construct
massless solutions in higher dimensions, generalizing the four-dimensional
twistor transform of Penrose. In any even (Euclidean) dimension d=2n,
projective pure spinors parameterize the coset space SO(2n)/U(n), which is the
space of all complex structures on R^{2n}. For d=4 and d=6, these spaces are
CP^1 and CP^3, and the appropriate twistor transforms can easily be
constructed. In this paper, we show how to construct the twistor transform for
d>6 when the pure spinor satisfies nonlinear constraints, and present explicit
formulas for solutions of the massless field equations.Comment: 17 pages harvmac tex. Modified title, abstract, introduction and
references to acknowledge earlier papers by Hughston and other
Predictability of Self-Organizing Systems
We study the predictability of large events in self-organizing systems. We
focus on a set of models which have been studied as analogs of earthquake
faults and fault systems, and apply methods based on techniques which are of
current interest in seismology. In all cases we find detectable correlations
between precursory smaller events and the large events we aim to forecast. We
compare predictions based on different patterns of precursory events and find
that for all of the models a new precursor based on the spatial distribution of
activity outperforms more traditional measures based on temporal variations in
the local activity.Comment: 15 pages, plain.tex with special macros included, 4 figure
Oxygen Abundances in Two Metal-Poor Subgiants from the Analysis of the 6300 A Forbidden O I Line
Recent LTE analyses (Israelian et al. 1998 and Bosegaard et al. 1999) of the
OH bands in the optical-ultraviolet spectra of nearby metal-poor subdwarfs
indicate that oxygen abundances are generally higher than those previously
determined. The difference increases with decreasing metallicity and reaches
delta([O/Fe]) ~ +0.6 dex as [Fe/H] approaches -3.0.
Employing high resolution (R = 50000), high S/N (~ 250) echelle spectra of
the two stars found by Israelian et al. (1998) to have the highest
[O/Fe]-ratios, viz, BD +23 3130 and BD +37 1458, we conducted abundance
analyses based on about 60 Fe I and 7-9 Fe II lines. We determined from Kurucz
LTE models the values of the stellar parameters, as well as abundances of Na,
Ni, and the traditional alpha-elements, independent of the calibration of color
vs scales. We determined oxygen abundances from spectral synthesis of
the stronger line (6300 A) of the [O I] doublet.
The syntheses of the [O I] line lead to smaller values of [O/Fe], consistent
with those found earlier among halo field and globular cluster giants. We
obtain [O/Fe] = +0.35 +/- 0.2 for BD +23 3130 and +0.50 +/- 0.2 for BD +37
1458. In the former, the [O I] line is very weak (~ 1 mA), so that the quoted
[O/Fe] value may in reality be an upper limit.
Therefore in these two stars a discrepancy exists between the [O/Fe]- ratios
derived from [O I] and the OH feature, and the origin of this difference
remains unclear. Until the matter is clarified, we suggest it is premature to
conclude that the ab initio oxygen abundances of old, metal-poor stars need to
be revised drastically upward.Comment: 38 pages, 5 tables, 14 figures To appear in July 1999 AJ Updated
April 16, 1999. Fixed typo
The Ital-FLAMES survey of the Sagittarius dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. I. Chemical abundances of bright RGB stars
We present iron and element (Mg, Ca, Ti) abundances for a sample of
15 Red Giant Branch stars belonging to the main body of the Sagittarius dwarf
Spheroidal galaxy. Abundances have been obtained from spectra collected using
the high resolution spectrograph FLAMES-UVES mounted at the VLT. Stars of our
sample have a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.410.20 with a metal poor tail
extending to [Fe/H]=-1.52. The element abundance ratios are slightly
subsolar for metallicities higher than [Fe/H]\gtsima-1, suggesting a slow star
formation rate. The [/Fe] of stars having [Fe/H]-1 are compatible to
what observed in Milky Way stars of comparable metallicity.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A.
Minor changes in the tex
The Hamburg/ESO R-process Enhanced Star survey (HERES). V. Detailed abundance analysis of the r-process enhanced star HE 2327-5642
We report on a detailed abundance analysis of the strongly r-process enhanced
giant star, HE 2327-5642 ([Fe/H] = -2.78, [r/Fe] = +0.99). Determination of
stellar parameters and element abundances was based on analysis of high-quality
VLT/UVES spectra. The surface gravity was calculated from the NLTE ionization
balance between Fe I and Fe II, and Ca I and Ca II. Accurate abundances for a
total of 40 elements and for 23 neutron-capture elements beyond Sr and up to Th
were determined. The heavy element abundance pattern of HE 2327-5642 is in
excellent agreement with those previously derived for other strongly r-process
enhanced stars. Elements in the range from Ba to Hf match the scaled Solar
r-process pattern very well. No firm conclusion can be drawn with respect to a
relationship between the fisrt neutron-capture peak elements, Sr to Pd, in HE
2327-5642 and the Solar r-process, due to the uncertainty of the latter. A
clear distinction in Sr/Eu abundance ratios was found between the halo stars
with different europium enhancement. The strongly r-process enhanced stars
reveal a low Sr/Eu abundance ratio at [Sr/Eu] = -0.92+-0.13, while the stars
with 0 < [Eu/Fe] < 1 and [Eu/Fe] < 0 have 0.36 dex and 0.93 dex larger Sr/Eu
values, respectively. Radioactive dating for HE 2327-5642 with the observed
thorium and rare-earth element abundance pairs results in an average age of
13.3 Gyr, when based on the high-entropy wind calculations, and 5.9 Gyr, when
using the Solar r-residuals. HE 2327-5642 is suspected to be radial-velocity
variable based on our high-resolution spectra, covering ~4.3 years.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted to A&
Mapping Vesta: First Results from Dawn’s Survey Orbit
The geologic objectives of the Dawn Mission [1] are
to derive Vesta’s shape, map the surface geology,
understand the geological context and contribute to
the determination of the asteroids’ origin and
evolution.Geomorphology and distribution of surface features
will provide evidence for impact cratering, tectonic activity, volcanism, and regolith processes. Spectral
measurements of the surface will provide evidence of
the compositional characteristics of geological units.
Age information, as derived from crater sizefrequency
distributions, provides the stratigraphic
context for the structural and compositional mapping
results, thus revealing the geologic history of Vesta.
We present here the first results of the Dawn mission
from data collected during the approach to Vesta, and
its first discrete orbit phase – the Survey Orbit, which
lasts 21 days after the spacecraft had established a
circular polar orbit at a radius of ~3000 km with a
beta angle of 10°-15°
Global survival trends for brain tumors, by histology: analysis of individual records for 556,237 adults diagnosed in 59 countries during 2000-2014 (CONCORD-3)
Background Survival is a key metric of the effectiveness of a health system in managing cancer. We set out to provide a comprehensive examination of worldwide variation and trends in survival from brain tumors in adults, by histology. Methods We analyzed individual data for adults (15-99 years) diagnosed with a brain tumor (ICD-O-3 topography code C71) during 2000-2014, regardless of tumor behavior. Data underwent a 3-phase quality control as part of CONCORD-3. We estimated net survival for 11 histology groups, using the unbiased nonparametric Pohar Perme estimator. Results The study included 556,237 adults. In 2010-2014, the global range in age-standardized 5-year net survival for the most common sub-types was broad: in the range 20%-38% for diffuse and anaplastic astrocytoma, from 4% to 17% for glioblastoma, and between 32% and 69% for oligodendroglioma. For patients with glioblastoma, the largest gains in survival occurred between 2000-2004 and 2005-2009. These improvements were more noticeable among adults diagnosed aged 40-70 years than among younger adults. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the largest account to date of global trends in population-based survival for brain tumors by histology in adults. We have highlighted remarkable gains in 5-year survival from glioblastoma since 2005, providing large-scale empirical evidence on the uptake of chemoradiation at population level. Worldwide, survival improvements have been extensive, but some countries still lag behind. Our findings may help clinicians involved in national and international tumor pathway boards to promote initiatives aimed at more extensive implementation of clinical guidelines
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